Federalist Party. The resurfacing of the two party system, the Democrats and the Whigs, between 1820 and 1840 was primarily due to the major political personalities involved, states’ rights issues, and economic issues.
Daniel Webster, the last spokesperson for the Federalists at the Hartford Convention, contributed to the start of the Whig party, maintaining the same Federalist views and simply converting them to the Whig party. Henry Clay, a national republican, was also an important person in the formation of a second party. Clay’s American System became the Whig Party Platform. With this platform, the Whigs developed the ideas that the Federalists previously believed. Another person who contributed to the formation of the Whig Party was Andrew Jackson himself. After the Nullification Crisis, many people opposing it started to dislike Jackson, so all the Jackson-haters joined together to form the Whig Party to oppose Jackson’s Democratic Party. All three of these people, Webster, Clay and Jackson played a pivotal role in the formation of the second party known as the Whig Party.
Opposing views regarding the Nullification Crisis was an additional reason for the development of the two party system. Jackson tried to provide for national democracy but with the Tariff of Abominations, taxes were raised and South Carolina could not afford anything because of their economic status. Threatening to leave the union, Calhoun, the Vice President, went to South Carolina and wrote, “South Carolina’s exposition and protest.” This was Calhoun’s idea of Nullification and it provided a process that South Carolina could follow to solve their issues. Calhoun hoped that this process would take so long to complete that by the time they had gone through it, their problems would already be resolved. With a slight lowering of taxes in the Tariff of 1833, South Carolina issued The Ordinance of Nullification, which said they would nullify the tariff if it were changed. Then Jackson issued the Force Act, which gave him the power to control South Carolina by any force necessary. With continuing disputes, the Compromise Tariff of 1833 was issued saying that over the next 13 years, the tariff would be lowered to meet the tariff in the year of 1816. After this incident, many people in South Carolina objected and believed that they deserved special rights. These opponents of Jackson joined together and formed the Whig Party.
To provide equality of economic opportunity, Jackson got involved in the BUS, but his actions led to the development of the two party system.
Since the charter for the 2nd BUS was running out and Jackson was still going to be president, Nicholas Biddle, the BUS president, needed to protect the BUS; Jackson was against the BUS and Biddle knew he would veto a charter for another BUS. Webster, a hater of Jackson, came up with the idea to ask Congress for an early charter because Americans would then see that Jackson would veto it. So Congress approved and Jackson vetoed it; however, he was still reelected. Jackson took this as a sign and thought Americans wanted him to cripple the BUS so he told his Attorney General, Roger B. Taney, to take out all the federal money and put it into PET banks, which were smaller banks throughout America. This later caused inflation, then the Panic of 1837, and then a Great Depression. Everyone that opposed this action by Jackson began to hate him also, so they also joined the Whig party. With all these members, the Whig party was established as another dominant party, an alternative to the Democratic
Party.
Between 1820 and 1840, several factors led to the development of the Whig Party and a two party system. Specifically, the political personalities of Webster, Clay, and Jackson, varying views of states’ rights issues surrounding the Nullification Crisis, and economic issues related to the BUS all contributed to the development of the Whig Party. Opponents of the Democratic Party and Andrew Jackson joined forces to form the Whig party.